In the United States, there are hundreds of millions of domestic pets in households. There are over 70 million pet cats and over 60 million pet dogs, not to mention birds, hamsters, rabbits, and other animals that can roam the indoors of a house. If you have a single pet, cleaning after it might seem simple. However, keeping a house clean with multiple pets becomes exponentially more arduous. However, if you have a house full of pets and would like to keep your house spotless, the good news is that it's not impossible. All you need to do is learn how to clean a house with pets and then regularly exert a little bit of effort.

Steps

1

Brush your pets on a regular basis. Veterinarians recommend brushing and grooming your pets regularly in order to reduce the amount of hair in the air and on the ground. Ideally, you'll want to brush your pets a few times a week. If the hair is on the brush, then it's not on the floor.

However, with every stroke, not all of the hair is guaranteed to end up on the brush. Some hair follicles will end up in the air or fall to the ground. Therefore, when brushing your pets, do it outside to minimize the impact it will have on the interior of your house.

2

Vacuum your rugs and carpets on a regular basis. No matter how many precautionary steps you take, pets will shed their hair and some of it will end up on your floor.

How often you vacuum will depend on the number of people and pets in your household. For every person and pet in the house, you should vacuum once a week. If it's just you and your pet, you should vacuum twice a week. If you have a 4 person family with 3 pets, you should vacuum every day.

You can minimize the number of locations that you have to vacuum by blocking pet access to certain rooms by closing doors or setting up pet barriers in doorways.

When cleaning hairs off of hardwood or tiled flooring, it may be more effective to use a broom or a dust-mop. In addition to being more effective, they have a lesser chance of causing damage to your floor than a vacuum.

3

Clean up after your pets as soon as possible. Never let a mess remain untouched, which will allow it to build up and become more difficult to clean up later. Furthermore, when you don't clean up a mess, your pets will interpret it as appropriate behavior and they will be encouraged to repeat.

When choosing a cleaner, avoid using industrial cleaners as they may be harmful to your pets. Choose a cleaner from a pet store, as cleaners offered in pet stores are often formulated to be safe for pets.

Never use ammonia-based cleaners when cleaning up after a pet. Ammonia has a scent that is similar to the scent of animal urine, which can send mixed signals to your pet and could potentially encourage them to make messes.

4

Purchase furniture that is tightly woven and/or has a smooth surface, like leather. Furniture of this sort will not only make it easier to clean pet hair, but will also mitigate damage against claws and scratching. With smooth surface furniture, you can simply squeegee the hair fibers right off.

5

Invest in a bed for your pets to give them a main location. When a pet learns to enjoy their bed, the area around that bed becomes their space, and they are more likely to stay in that location. When properly trained, a pet will rest in their bed more often, which means less time spent on your furniture.

Community Q&A

Vacuum your house constantly because fleas lay their eggs in the carpet. There are also many chemical options such as sprays (for both inside and outside) and flea bombs that kill off fleas and their eggs. There are also flea combs that can be purchased in the pet aisle that help get fleas off your pets. When combing your pets, make sure to put the brush in a bowl of hot water and soap to get the fleas off and kill them. Do this after every brush stroke. Finally, it is important to keep treating your pets even if it appears as if the fleas are gone. Depending on how often you do all this, the fleas should be gone in a couple of weeks.